In Shambles

Kieran stood within this strange black space, in an area not quite the Darkness Below but existing right outside its edge, skating its periphery in some fashion he still couldn't fathom. 

Much like he couldn't fathom how he had walked into this place.

'I feel like you're lying to me, Flame… just what did you do?'

"My child, you are too cynical. I didn't take you to be a buzzkill fatalist, but you seem more like one with each passing day we spend together. Why don't you just enjoy the now with me?"

Kieran frowned, squinting into the dark with aimless venom. 

The Flame had not manifested itself. If it did, Kieran couldn't tell in his current condition. The Darkness Below was similar to Altair's Lightless Shroud in that way, somehow absorbing all light, even the crimson light of the blood fire he could conjure now.